low as fifteen dollars at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. gerri: earlier in the show we talked to evan rappaport, a hedge fund manager who said that his case moving from new york to florida, would you move to could your income taxes? here is how you voted. 94 percent said yes, 6 percent said no. i go with that. be sure to log on to gerriwillis.com for online question every weekday. finally tonight, critically important, the answer is, yes, according to a new report. domestic cats, household pets that go outside and sprays killed millions of birds and small mammals each year. and the breakdown of fluffy and his friends killing spree, an average of 2 billion birds and 12 billion small mammals such as

chipmunks, rabbits, and mice every year. according to researchers, more birds and mammals died at the mouths of cats than car accidents, boys as chemicals, and in on collisions with skyscrapers and windmills. part of a three-year fish and wildlife study. is this your tax predellas a work? crazy. that is my "2 cents more." that's it for tonight on "lou dobbs tonight." have a great night. ♪ lou: >> a very good evening. i'm lori rothman. the obama -- obama economy heading a stumbling block, suffering its first decline since the end of the recession. the government cutting spending and u.s. businesses trying down inventories in the fourth quarter causing the economy to contract for the first time in more than three years. u.s. gross domestic product falling a rate of a tenth of a percent, that is the worst performance since the second

quarter of 2009. this is growing at a 3% clip in the third quarter of last year. the federal reserve today saying that growth has stalled, but telling the public temporary, pledging to continue with the easy money policy into the outlook for employment improved substantially, the news coming as somewhat of late surprised as economists predicted. the economy hit with super storm sandy in late october causing extensive damage along the east coast, seen as a major factor. economists see the same growth in excess of 3 percent will be needed to significantly lower unemployment and get at least some of the 23 million unemployed americans back to work. as to the markets, of three indices finishing in the red with the dow jones losing 44 points. the nasdaq down 11, and the snb, broad market of six points. the euro gaining, and that helmont about a percent on the

dollar, which finished at a 52- week low as a matter of fact. gold finishing up over $19 during today's trading session. u.s. be chief economist maury harris joins us now. meanwhile, immigration and customs enforcement suing the government for refusing to let the men forced the law. nationalize council is also here. and israel unilaterally attacking key syrian assets and an overnight bombing. former pentagon official is also our guest tonight. would you want to begin with the u.s. economy shocking the experts in shrinking for the first time since the recession. fox news iran house correspondent has our report. >> less than two weeks that the president said his second inaugural address that an economic recovery had begun to let the congress -- commerce departments and not so fast. slow growth slashed economic

growth from three pa 1% to-1 to the persons in the fourth. they downplayed the report and give republicans part of the blame. >> consumer spending has been rising. >> comments about using the threat of across-the-board spending cuts not as a sequestered for leveraged for fiscal asperity. some members constituents are fighting. >> and put the damage on the economy as a -- you know, to achieve some political roles here in washington seems like a bad idea. >> accusing republicans of pushing spending cuts for their own sake. some minority leader mitch mcconnell denied that. >> this is a conversation about growth and opportunity. it is not a conversation about

austerity. >> republican said deal that commences the public congress is writing of the starship would stimulate more buying, though economists said the payroll tax that people felt this year may slow the current quarter growth. >> where are it is going to have an impact is likely on retail sales in january, february. those could come in a bit soft as people start to respond to the fact that their income is not the size that but it would be. >> taking the last reports together it's a clear picture of the economy. then this recovery, but soft. >> most private spending categories were actually better in the fourth quarter than they were in the third. he expects positive growth in this year and not a slide in the recession.

>> fox news that senior white house correspondent. more on the economy in moments. the gun-control debate on center stage in the nation's capital today, hearing marked by a heated debate about the effectiveness and background checks and questions of why current gun-control laws simply are not enforced. the nra's wayne lapierre insisting new laws will not curtail violence, now while the government already refuses to enforce existing laws. but the fact is we could dramatically and -- cut crime with guns and save lives all over this country if we would start enforcing the 9,000 federal laws we have on the books. i'm talking about drug dealers, gangs, felons. there is simply not being enforced. the numbers are shocking. lori: meanwhile, in the murder capital of the united states, the city with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation among the mayor is again practicing chicago are mending intimidation politics. asking several mutual funds to blacklist and manufacturers who

do not go along with a left-wing attack on the second amendment. his statement reading, just like the banks and pension funds, i believe that these mutual funds can exert an enormous amount of influence by taking a stand against the manufacturers that continued to refuse to support common sense reforms like required background checks and an assault weapons ban. the mayor had previously persuaded a chicago pension fund to divest from companies that make firearms and attempted to enlist bank of america in again control campaign. for more on today's debt control hearings on capitol hill let's go to fox news chief congressional correspondent. >> reporter: some six weeks after the need to a connecticut school shooting congress began to examine the issue of gun violence. the high-profile victim of a 2011 attack in tucson, ariz. made this appeal. >> it will be hard, but the time is now. you must act.

be bold. be courageous. americans are counting on you. >> judiciary chairman pat leahy femoral vermont promise the second avenue will continue to be protected, but offered this idea. >> responsible gun order objects of approving the background check system. when i bought firearms and vermont i go through the background check. i would expect everybody else to >> the nra says those precautions will work in the real world ." >> and it comes to background checks, let's be honest, they will never be universal because criminals will never submit to them. >> our recent fox is paul revealed 56 percent of those surveyed favored banning high capacity clips and 54 percent supported banning assault weapons. today the baltimore police chief beck those steps. >> must be reinstated. like assault weapons to my

capacity magazines are not used for hunting. they do not belong in our homes. >> and advocate says large weapons can make up for a woman is like a size and strength. >> the peace of mind and she has knowing that she has a scary looking gun gives her more courage when she is fighting hard and, violent criminals. and if we ban these types of assault weapons, you're putting women at a great disadvantage. >> most are not expecting gun-control to go far you're on capitol hill, recognizing senate majority leader harry reid will want to protect its members up for reelection in 2014. some of whom, coming from states where the phrase gun-control would be a dirty word. lori: thank you. the u.s. officials are confirming reports that israel launched an air strike inside syria overnight hitting a convoy of trucks near the border with lebanon. those trucks are believed to have been moving advanced weapons, including anti-aircraft

missiles to the islamist militant group hezbollah in lebanon. syriaa say tv's accusing israel of bombing a military research center northwest of the capital of damascus, but that has not been confirmed. for more on the implications of the israeli attack on syria, and joined by fox news national security analyst who has held security posts under presidents ford, nixon, and reagan. so this attack by israel on syria, is syria going to interpret it as an act of war. >> they have a civil war of their own, so they don't have much. lori: what about them? >> listen, why is israel doing this? is looking and syria and thinking, yaks, chemical weapons. we want to make sure whatever happens, especially that explodes, that those chemical weapons are now used against israel. the second thing or read about is surface-to-air missiles which is what was probably in the convoy attacked. why? because they know if their is a military operation against iran, let's say six months from now i

year from now is well as a pre-emptive strike against the iranian nuclear site commander there retaliate? by launching missiles and raining and down on israel. where those missiles going to be launched from? and on. hezbollah and lebanon. lori: was as a bold move to attack syria and israel standing alone, especially when you think about u.s. policy? >> that is what israel has to be sorry about. to mark the confirmation hearings of the senator hegel, on the record as saying sanctions are not working, and israel, if their is a real question. so they are looking in all this and saying to themselves, are we going to have to do this alone? no one wants them to get lewd -- nuclear-weapons, no one wants this more than we do. if we're on our own, if it is only as, we have to do it.

lori: the president's quick to point out, very sensitive. >> passive aggressive, which is even worse because look what happened with libya. talk about dictators, but we never managed to secure all the weapons. that is was feeling all the fights. lori: and then you have to talk by egypt. >> and egypt, what is the problem there? there is no real cohesive government. egypt amelie topple the tape -- dictator, but will we got was pretty much chaos. an economic basket case. they cannot feed their own people. if they are of a billion and a half dollars, they don't feed their people. they have to get the from somewhere, and the economy is flat line. lori: rejecting calls for new unity government. was he is not around during the arab spring? what is this guy's goal? units in the economic. worse now.

>> revolution. there is always three acts. at the more one, everyone is united. number two, it's the rebels' command that is where we are right now. and they are not very good at it. so they even got their act together. lori: let's come back to washington. senator kerrey was confirmed, secretary of state. big senate armed services committee confirmation hearings for judge kendall. kind of talking a little bit earlier. they're going to look and see what direction is going. come before committee. i talked to him last week.

lori: does that mean anything to you? >> it means, but you're not going to get a unanimous. this air you really do want that everyone voting in favor, one or two. total. the big picture. here with our policy looking l word, what do you think the next four years will apply? >> getting an uptown just-in-time. the wheels are about to come of that bus. north africa, exploding. the price and molly, algeria, libya. then you go to egypt. no good solution. lori: how would you grade her as secretary of state? >> she showed up, went all over the world. she has some pretty good ideas. i don't think anyone listens to our, but if you look back. i work for some great secretaries. henry kissinger. arms control agreement among the least degree rift among opening to china.

the right to the ministrations and the cold war without firing a shot. you're not seeing any of this. sierra spring, but that is one big incomplete. lori: thank you. recover a lot of territory. great to chat with you. appreciate your analysis. what's more on the israeli strike inside syria coming up later with "a-team." $16 trillion in debt, and some of our nation's lawmakers still don't think we have a spending problem. the fight over funds is only just beginning. fox news chief political correspondent has the latest. the obama economy. the slow recovery hits a surprise snag. new data shows no recovery. what happened to growth? cbs chief economist next. the boys use capital one venture miles

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♪ lori: an economic contraction in the fourth quarter, most of us by surprise. chief economist for ubs will be here to tell us why if anything we should make of this economic activity last year. first, news of decline. one-half of 1 percent in gdp was unexpected. the federal reserve technology economy above the court. this afternoon announcing it will continue its easy money policy, and its $$5 billion a month on a buying program until unemployment falls to six and a half percent. so, here are your markets. today the dow down 44 points, but still up 6% since the beginning of the year. the s&p lost some '06, the nasdaq down 11. volume on the big board, or three and a half billion shares trading hands. after the bell, facebook comfortably beat earnings and revenue estimates, $0.17 per share with sock down an after-hours trading in what appears to be a classic buy on

the run up, sell on the news. research in motion or blackberry, the company is now officially calling itself role that as long anticipated by perry ten operating system. reviews are mixed. keep in mind, blackberry was in a dollar stock back in september. no it is about $13. in commodities to michael rose $19 to one dozen 679 announce. oil continues its run up of another $0.37 close in $97.94. treasury today, the yield on u.s. ten year bond closed just above 2%. joining me right now, as promised to achieve ubs economist for research, maureen harrison. make sense of this pullback in gdp. the economists were expecting growth. the first pick of three quarterly reads on gross domestic product. government spending can weigh in, especially in the defense sector. is this something to get concerned about? are we on track for a recession which would be two consecutive negative quarters of growth?

>> well, you ask yourself, how could the market shrugged off a report that was superficially this week? the reality was that we knew look underneath the hood, so to speak, and look to some of the details, the consumer spending was decent. the housing was booming. most importantly, businesses started doing capitol spending again. they pulled back in the third quarter, with the camera back in the fourth quarter even though there were all these concerns about this bill cliff. and what it tells you is, there is a lot of resilience in the private sector. ." lori: you are taking a positive spin on this to looking at the bright side, but we are still facing sequestration, these deep cuts in defense spending. we know that the 22% decline in defense spending in the fourth quarter led to this negative print, the big driver of the negative. so if we get even more defense cuts will likely cause, right, it could even bring that gdp and

a weaker point. that said, you're what you're saying about the private sector strength and, perhaps, the private sector ignoring the public sector, but you cannot ignore how much of the overall government spending has on a broader economy. maybe there is a camp that says to make, maybe it is good government is not spending as much. again, it is a huge contributor to our output. >> well, a couple of things to think about here on government spending. first of all, then spending already came down quite considerably in the fourth quarter, so they're on their way cutting spending any help. some of the hit that we were thinking we are going to take this year we already have that down. so the incrementally it affect is not what we thought it would be an earlier. because you cut it so much already in the fourth quarter. no, i am of the viewpoint that these politicians are -- i call it fiscal blocks. but other than the fiscal cliff.

and it is going to be typical. they waited till the very last minute and then there is some kind of compromise. there is some wiggle room. yes, you're going to see some further government spending cuts, but did not think they're going to be on the order of magnitude that is specified in the sequester that democrats don't want to cut the non-defense spending, republicans don't want to cut defense spending. you know, this is a tired expression, kick the can down the road, that is probably what they're wrong to do in the budget. lori: we heard from the federal reserve maintain easy money policy, liquidity is -- i mean, the systems are just flush with cash right now. we see this in bond rates, historically low yields. the stock market at these multi year highs in pushing an all-time high and the dow jones industrial average. is there a disconnect? under you pointed to the private sector. our people just ignoring what is going on in the government in this fiscal boff, as you will? >> love the most important things going on is that bad. the fed keeps pumping money into

the economy faster, buying up $85 billion a month in bonds. and this money is flowing into the banks. the banks are hardly putting all of it to work right away, but they're putting some of it to work. they're putting enough money to work that the economy is still moving forward, and you see is when you look at bank balance sheets. banks have been expanding their balance sheets. they're lending again commend this is partly because they are flooded with deposits because the fed is pumping all this money. >> you don't think then that this disappointing printed on gdp will derail the market's rally? >> i don't think it will, and in terms of perceptions of what is happening, and that gdp number getting people's attention today, you know, friday we get the employment numbers for january. they're going to probably -- and will probably be more important for what people think the economy is really doing, and we think those numbers are going to

look decent. lori: what are you expecting for friday's december report? >> well, we think -- lori: is a january? january, i'm sorry. >> we are already in january. we think the payrolls went up 1,705,000, and the unemployment rate went down a tenth. and that is 175,000, 25,000 better than you did on average last year. lori: the fed is that guy to do anything until unemployment falls to six and a half% to us so we have some wiggle room to enjoy these easy policies cannot accommodate the fed, and blowing up the stock market. thank you, sir. very much. all right. up next, the mainstream media is giving senator bob menendez a pass on allegations of consorting with underage prostitutes. the fbi is on the case. that story straight ahead. democrats tried to sell that we don't have a spending problem message while blaming republicans for the sluggish economy. carl cameron as the report for us. ♪

lori: messages as governor duval patrick has passed his former chief of staff to fill the seat left vacant by incoming secretary of state john kerry. he will serve until a special election is held to fill the seat on june 205th. the appointment marks the first time ever that the senate has two black members serving at the same time. republican tens got of south carolina being the other. democrats are trying a new tactic, tired of letting president bush for their failed policies. well, now they're blaming our colleagues on fox news for manufacturing washington spending problems. fox is chief political correspondent carl cameron led to the arguments from both sides. >> president obama reportedly said that america does not have a spending problem. well, of course we know that's not accurate. >> that is the senate's top republican referring to the president's assertion that the u.s. does not have a spending problem during a private discussion on the $16 trillion

federal debt crisis as quoted by house speaker in a recent "wall street journal" op-ed. other democrats in including louisiana democratic senator mary landreau have eagerly embraced the presidential sentiment belling to oppose discretionary spending cuts arguing that the debt crisis hasn't been linked role had been over higher by pundits on fox news. >> and not going to keep cutting the discretionary budget which, by the way, is not out of control despite what you hear on fox news. >> senate majority leader mary reed telegraphed his party stalling push for more tax hikes on the wealthy and intensifying opposition to additional discretionary spending discipline. >> the american people still believe by an overwhelming margin that the rich should contribute to this. they believe that medicare should not be. [indiscernible] they believe it has been heard.

>> the government accountability of this issue airport two weeks ago saying, the structural imbalance between spending and revenue will lead to continued growth and debt. this means the current structure of the federal budget is unsustainable. the white house spokesman jay carney more than once in the last months of the president does not you deficit reduction as a goal unto itself. fine as part of broad economic recovery pockets, but as a stand-alone priority reducing the deficit is not worth the effort in the president's mind. still more battles ahead. in washington carl cameron xbox news. lori: of course there are battles ahead. it's washington. thanks, carl. well, harder for the mainstream liberal media to ignore the brewing sex scandal surrounding democratic senator bob menendez of the jersey three last that the fbi raided the office of the south florida eye doctor who allegedly provided underage prostitutes to send german mendez, a claim he adamantly denies. according to the miami "herald" the fbi investigation centers around the doctors finances and allegations about his contact with prostitutes.

the doctors what senator menendez top financial backers contributing more than $30,000 to his federal campaign. the obama administration today moving closer to implementing the highly unpopular individual mandate in obamacare. that is the provision that forces most taxpayers to buy health insurance or pay a fine to the irs. today the irs issued 73 pages of new regulations that now line the process for determining whether taxpayers are subject to the mandate or exempt from it third. republican senators introduced a bill to repeal the mandate last week, but the measures are likely to go anywhere in the democratic controlled senate. >> the gun-control debate. former congresswoman gabba gifford makes an emotional appeal before congress to go big. but or any of her former house colleagues even listening? the "a-team" weighs in. ♪ dublin the bunnies, the mansion or her famous publishing sponsor, but former playboy ceo christie hefner has that unique off even more bizarre

explanation for why chicago has become the murder capital of the u.s. and the upside-down world of common security, agents are suing the department to be allowed to do the job they were suborned to do, enforce the law. head of the immigration and customs enforcement union joins us next. ♪

♪ lori: senator jeff sessions has called for the resignation of immigration and customs important director john morton and said there can be no comprehensive immigration reform until he steps down. his call for resignation comes as a federal judge clears the lawsuit filed by as agents against morton at homeland security director janet napolitano. the agents claim, this is the background, the obama administration has forced agents to violate federal law by halting the arrests of most illegal immigrants. my first guest says, we have become the impact to have an

enemy of this illustration. our own officers are now the enemy. joining us is president of nestle immigration and customs important council representing more than 7,000 agents and employees. welcome. >> thank you. thank you for having a son. lori: this really amounts to the bottom line to mobile all-star with the bottom line, you are suing the government to allow you to enforce the law >> that's absolutely correct command is this what the vatican to this point. but that his word is that a reader believe strongly what we're doing. we believe in the hopes that we took in the law of the land. lori: give us a sense of what the confusion is about and why you filed a lawsuit against the federal government and the first place? for example, if one of your aides insist on the job, on, you know, on-duty and seize a car driving erratically topples of the driver and smells booze, seize drugs, and your agent finds that person is illegal, if

that driver basically says, well, you know, i passed my ged, i have my school degree in the agent has to not apprehend that driver? my understanding is directly? >> no, it is a lot more complicated than that, lori. it is -- well say, first of all, that it has kind of been a roller coaster for us during the entire obama administration on a day-to-day basis kind of the rules that we have to follow each state. different pretty much every single day. and right now we have, there is some much confusion in the field the different offices from state to state or city to city are literally doing different things. so no one really knows what is going on. lori: can you give me an example of the confusion so we can put ourselves in your shoes? >> absolutely. i mean, better example might be an immigration agent that is actually working in jail or prison walks into a jail, encounters an illegal alien.

an illegal alien has been arrested for criminal charges by another law enforcement agency. at that point without conviction that individual might tell an immigration agent to make my qualify for one of these benefits under the obama administration plan and there is really nothing we can do about it at that point. we really just a turnaround of mark away from that individual and take their word instead of what we would have previously done in the past, take that person into custody, you know, do the proper -- lori: of the illegal alien does not have to prove he or she has his qualifications. >> that is correct. and vhs has come out and said that is not true, but what is actually happening and the field is exactly that. and the only point that i think the alien may be required to prove anything is when they file an application with citizens and immigration services to actually receive a benefit, but in terms of our officers encountering in

the field, yes, we pretty much have to take their word for it that they applied for one of these programs. lori: simply put, bad as getting off? >> absolutely, it's happening. there are now two ways about it. we have folks that we know when our hearts and our experience and in working these jobs for so long that they are gang members and everything else, but without any absolute proof there is nothing that we can do about it, so people that we absolutely believe our public threat that previously would have taken into custody we are now forced to release. lori: immigration and customs enforcement agents are at risk of losing their jobs if they don't follow these new federal's? >> that's correct, and we actually had one officer that was suspended for three days for arresting an illegal alien, the officers had been sitting on a fugitive vehicle, an individual cannot to get in that vehicle. they detained that individual, and when they found out that the guy had not had a driver's

license for a very long time and had been arrested on multiple occasions for driving without a driver's license, the taken into custody. when they did so, that officer was placed or threatened with suspension for arresting that individual who also was, you know, and the country illegally. lori: he had a victory in court. the lawsuit will be heard. was the next up? tell you continue your fight? >> well, that is actually for our attorney, crystal ball, who was on the show last night to answer. so i apologize, but will let him address those questions. lori: i think it is interesting that you're the union leader, write to or representing these agents. the afl-cio, richard trumka, white house officials really will consult you, obviously immigration reform front and center, the gang of eight senators, bipartisan senators, the president for coming up with his proposal. no one is really asking you in your opinion, and your, you know, your view on it. >> yes, they don't talk to immigration and customs enforcement employees.

the officers and days is that do the job as well as a prosecuting attorneys -- attorneys. did not talk to border patrol agents. they're not wanting to your voice to my guess, within the administration or within the afl-cio, and we believe, and that the most americans would agree that we could avoid a lot of the pitfalls, of the problems that we have had in the past about immigration policies if we would bring in the front line troops to do the jobs, not the managers are the political appointees to do what they're told or see what they're told, but the people that actually do the jobs, give some insights our lawmakers when they sit down to make these laws. we think that is critically important and hope to see that happen quick. lori: are you encouraged to discourage it with your from washington? >> i would have to say that i am a little bit on this tourist side. we're absolutely open to hearing what any of our lawmakers our political leaders have to put on the table, but, you know, for us just as one example, when i read to the bipartisan committee framework, there was no mention

of immigration and customs enforcement whatsoever. you really have to look hard to see any kind of mention on the interior enforcement of our laws, you know, we basically have a handful of police agents that are primarily working jails and prisons run the country and importing and removing about 400,000 individuals that are coming out of jails and prisons, i mean, that is a red flag that we have a serious criminal alien problem on the interior of our country. i mean, i think it is an indicator that we probably have millions, and it has to be addressed and currently it is not. lori: you will continue to fall your story there and check back with you periodically as you continue. the president of the national ice council. thanks again. >> thank you. lori: coming up tomorrow, national rifle association executive director chris cox and princeton economist and former cuts and adviser alan blinder. and go to loudobbs.com to find

links to our facebook page, twitter, or send us an e-mail. up next on chicago's top, brushes off the second murder epidemic, but the number of dead civilians is no more than twice the number of soldiers killed afghanistan. taken up with "a-team." monica crowley, a judge to be next. ♪ [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., faugh

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the president's chicago home. >> liberals love to link gun violence to lax gun laws. chicago already has some of the strictest, as in the country. some on the left and a limit jakarta's murder rate on something else entirely. have a listen to the former ceo of playboy enterprises, christie hefner. >> last year we hit a record number of murders from guns, and this year we were already outpacing last year's numbers. now, there are contributing factors that are not under anybody's control and may seem odd, but is actually true and one of them is the weather. there is a dramatic increase in gun violence when it is warmer, and we are having this climate change effect that is driving that. lori: if that is the case, howdy you explain new york murder rate hitting a 50 year low last year? get temperatures run average 3 degrees warmer the chicago. all right. send it over to the "a-team." joining me now, opera, radios,

fox is contributor, monica crowley, injuring democratic campaign strategists to a judge to beat. you were shaking your head vigorously listening to christie hefner. >> i know. did she know that it is winter in chicago? critical. still, these orders are at record highs. you mention chicago has among the nation's strictest gun laws. that is also true for new york, washington d.c., and those three cities to have the highest and murder rates in the entire country. we have found is that when you strip away the ability for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families and a property, you actually have the bad guys advancing because they know that they can, and that means greater violence across the board, but it also means greater gun violence. lori: so desperate to find a reason behind being -- the increased done by -- gun violence. >> the weather. lori: no, i'm serious. fenton center today. we heard from the nra chief. we making progress?

>> when it comes to guns in the control of guns to absolutely not. what we have really lost control of are the gangs. i did the story of a chicago this morning. i talked about the not -- a mother who has lost four children to gun violence in one family. a daughter and three sons, the latest just recently, and the gangs are what are out of control. chicago police have no control over them. the sister-in-law's angeles. not only true in the major urban centers, get cain violence is taking over the suburbs and even rural areas in america. we do virtually nothing about it. here in new york there is a major gang squad unit that works very hard all the time. i think that there are hundreds involved in it, and even they have trouble, if you remember this past summer, they cordoned off a blocked because the gangs, they knew the gangs are going to be fighting in the streets and the cubs cordoned it off and would not let people know wind that live there.

lori: gang violence, video games. so many things, a floating out there. where are you today as we -- >> i think john is right. a lot of it is gang-related, and, you know, frankly it does not matter. the city has the strongest gun laws. the gangs can move the guns from elsewhere were it is easier to get them and move them out. and i really, frankly, don't see -- despite all of the speeches and testimony, do not see a whole lot changing. and now that people are upset about the moves on gun control, but i do not see that an assault weapons ban is going to happen. i don't think anybody here thinks that. i don't think anybody thinks even high-capacity magazines are going to be banned. the best that is -- i mean, the biggest thing that might happen is the universal background check. i mean, it may come out of what we are seeing, at least so far in washington. but i think, what the american people -- they want something. everyone wants to get to what, you know, this is about.

what we have this violence? and it is everything from mental health the just how many guns are out there, but we have got to come together and at least try to move to some reasonable solutions. lori: that is a good place to leave it for around number one. we will be back in just a couple of moments. stick with us. ♪

lori: please to be back with the "a-team." what -- let's talk about the economic shocker that greeted most of us to start the day today. u.s. gross domestic product contracting in the fourth quarter by one-tenth of 1%. what do you think drove that? >> appalling, but not in all surprising. economics is pretty straightforward science, so there is no mystery.

for years a buildup of higher taxes, out of control spending, record breaking deficits and debt, socialized medicine, completely out of control government. and you put all of that together after four years and, of course, this is going to be the result that i have a feeling this is the beginning. lori: you can look at it this way, all of the spending, almost $4 trillion in government spending for what. >> absolutely right. and i think the president and the money men in washington have got to get on that big buzz that they are going to love the road trips on the money to get back on that. they need to drive tap -- through america, suburban tomorrow, the urban centers do a little bit better, but florida recently. i go there are regular basis. year after year there are more and more closed stores. there are the strip malls that are empty, and i'm telling you, i don't care what this is underneath it that is better as starter in the economy looks like it has at least a breath of life left in it.

u.s. the average mom-and-pop person running the store today, and i'm wrong to tell you. lori: two consecutive quarters of negative growth constitute a textbook definition of a recession. what do you think? are we headed down that road? >> i don't think so. both sandy and more important the, of people pulled back, but if you look at the one real bright spot, housing, somehow that has come back. for five months and around our increasing prices and sales. we have increasing prices of sales, which has always let her way out of a recession it took us four years to get here, but it's starting to happen, i think. it's not robust, but i think the 2-3 percent gdp growth. [talking over each other] >> i hope you're right and i >> i hope you're right, i love your optimism. but i think that we have and monetary stimulus. for trillions of dollars pumped down into the system, and here's

where we are. payroll tax cuts, tax hike rather this payroll tax cut has really affected consumer confidence. >> thank you guys. the one i am lori rothman, it has been a pleasure sitting in for lou dobbs. you can check us out online. good night from new york. all stations come over to mission a for a final go.

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